Evaluating the Offer

To properly evaluate an employment offer, you need to investigate several issues about the group you are joining; know what’s included in the offer and what’s not; understand compensation systems and employment benefits, especially what you can expect to negotiate and what you probably can’t; learn how to evaluate the contract and other documents you are being asked to sign. To make it even more difficult to discuss here, every specialty is different and the laws governing practice and contracts vary by state. The smaller the group, the more important all of these issues become. The larger the group, like a Kaiser Permanente, or especially the government, the less relevant many of these issues become.

Evaluating the Group

There are a few general considerations about a group you need to investigate before joining it. Perhaps the most important one is the group’s reputation in the medical community and the reputations of its members. Does the group have a service orientation? Do people...